FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO640)

Despite crises cars are seem to get bigger again. The SUV trend started a couple of years ago and now everybody seems to have one. Of course nobody even consider to go off road in their 4×4 and why should they? We built roads long time ago because it’s slow and cumbersome to drive through the woods. Today it makes no sense to do that unless you live in a far away outpost of civilization. But or course they are comfortable to enter, have lot’s of space and they definitely look cooler than a van. SUVs are todays vans.

Of course practicably nobody needs a van either. It’s just that today everybody with one child needs more cargo space than a small enterprise. But there is no need to have a child to go around in a big car. There is always a good reason to get one. ( The writer of those lines drives a crossover. The famous SUV/Van mongrel. )

But it could be worse. In the South West of the US they drive big pick up trucks. A very big cars with no space for passengers or luggage. OK there is less rain in Arizona than there is in Austria but what do you do if it rains? Postpone shopping? And most of all: How to make sure that your big flat screen you just bought is still there if you stop for a minute to get cigarettes. I just forgot. Nobody smokes anymore in the US. Maybe that’s the reason they stopped. If I remember correctly I never saw a truck transporting anything except the driver.

FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO640)

When I was a small kid we had a Volkswagen beetle and we managed to go around and even to go for vacation. All four of us plus luggage. Today in our part of the world it is different. There are lots of big but empty cars.

That was the longest intro ever just to show some images taken during one short ride to the airport. The people in Vietnam manage to transport almost everything on a scooter. The whole family, full size fridges, tons of cement or a tree. Those scooters and their determined riders put every full size SUV or heavy duty truck to shame.

I also liked the guy on the bicycle transporting another 3 bikes.

FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO1000)
FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO800)

Of course I can only guess but to me it looks like the couple in the last image is preparing for their first child.

When I left Vietnam I knew that I have to come back here again for vacation. This was a business trip and I visited only HCMC and Hanoi. I didn’t see anything of the country side. I have seen women on the rice fields on the way to the airport but that was just outside of Hanoi.

Vietnam is years behind to most other countries in the region but it is developing fast. From bikes to scooters within less than 10 years. But because of that they have horribly air pollution in both big cities. There are 2 million scooters in HCMC today. A fast growing 8 million city without effective public transport. But beside that I really enjoyed my time there. The people are extremely friendly and seem to be more happy than in other parts of the world. Despite the fact that lot’s of them are very poor they seem to enjoy life more than most of the people in Austria. Vietnam is among the poorest countries in the world, Austria is under the top10 of the richest. It seems that there is no direct relationship in between wealth and happiness. Maybe that’s some kind of higher justice.

FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/6.4, 1/125 sec, ISO640)